South Korea Looking to Upgrade its KF-16 Fighters

ROKAF KF-16

In July 2009, The Korea Times reported that ROKAF was looking to upgrade its F-16C/D fleet’s radar and armament, as part of the 2010-2014 arms acquisition and management package submitted to President Lee Myung-bak for approval.

Under the Peace Bridge II and II deals, The ROKAF bought 140 “KF-16″ Block 52 fighters, which were assembled in Korea between 1994-2004 under a $5.5 billion licensing agreement. Key upgrades to this fleet will include new radars to replace the existing APG-68v5/v7 systems, modern avionics and computers, and upgrades of the planes’ cabling and databuses to MIL-STD-1760. The centerpiece AESA radar competition has a winner now, and South Korea has picked its contractor for the overall upgrade program. Now the challenge is turning that into binding contracts, and beginning the upgrade process. Other countries within the region and beyond are interested in similar high-value F-16 upgrade programs, so the ROk’s experiences will be watched carefully.

FY2014 US Department of Defense Budget Lacks OCO, Sequester: Can It Get Traction in Congress?

Two months after the legal deadline and later than at any time in the modern record, the White House finally released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2014. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reiterated the gambit that failed and arguably backfired in the previous fiscal year by ignoring the sequester. In place, President Obama puts again on the table the broad terms he had offered earlier to House Republicans, with a mix of spending cuts (translation from Washington lingo: mostly a decrease in the rate of real growth) and tax increases.

A number of systems, especially among UAVs and ground vehicles, see a decline in the quantity of scheduled buys, but the list of programs that are explicitly terminated or restructured is rather slim, reflecting the Administration’s choice to use its previous budget request as its baseline rather than plan within sequestration constraints. The absence of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budget, which won’t be available for another month or so, further blurs the picture of a budget that is too stable to be true.

Aerial Eyes: Pakistan’s New AWACS Fleets

S-2000 Rollout

In June 2006, Saab signed a SEK 8.3 billion provisional contract to supply Argus turboprop airborne early warning (AEW&C) systems to Pakistan, based on the Saab 2000 regional turboprop airliner and the Erieye fixed active array radar. The buy capped a 25-year quest by the Pakistani Air force to field AWACS machines, which can survey the airspace for hundreds of miles around, and co-ordinate intercept and strike missions based on what it sees.

The Saab aircraft beat other competitors, including US offers to sell the E-2C Hawkeye system. In 2007, the buy was reduced somewhat for financial reasons, but Pakistan took delivery of at least 4 planes. Then, in 2008, the PAF looked to China for another 4 AWACS. Despite some setbacks, Pakistan had a diverse AWACS fleet with more than 5 aircraft, even as its rival India has struggled to field 3 planes. That was true, until Pakistan’s own deep state policies supporting Salafist Islam came back to bite their AWACS fleet.

Rapid Fire April 10, 2013: OMB Releases FY14 Budget Overview | Oshkosh Job Losses

• The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is starting to release the FY 2014 president budget request. So far only the long-term overview is available, which outlines the terms of a “grand bargain” to replace the sequester. The general release is expected at 11:15am ET, the Pentagon’s media briefing will follow at 1pm ET, and finally the services during the afternoon. DID’s dedicated article will be updated throughout the day.

• Truck maker Oshkosh will cut 200 salaried jobs and 700 hourly workers by the summer, reducing its defense-focused workforce to 2,800 people.